GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Behind the doors of DeVos Place, Wolverine Worldwide has created its own shoe mall.

The Rockford-based footwear giant set up shops or displays for each of the company’s 16 brands in the convention center, featuring thousands of shoes that won’t make it on actual store shelves or websites until next year.

Wolverine's brands range from the hiking brand Merrell to the boat shoe Sebago and the first casual brand Hush Puppies to Harley Davidson boots.

But this shoe lover's’ paradise is only open to the more than 1,000 attendees of Wolverine’s global sales conference taking place in downtown Grand Rapids this week. The conference is expected to pump $2 million into the local economy.

Antonio Ciorba is among Wolverine’s international partners and employees who have flown in to see the 2014 spring and summer collections. He’s picking the CAT Footwear, Cushe and Chaco styles that will be distributed through his company to stores in Italy.

Seeing all of Wolverine’s Michigan brands in one place outside of the company’s Rockford headquarters is a new experience. Wolverine plans to eventually fold in its recently acquired Boston-based brands - Keds, Sperry Top-Sider, Stride Rite and Saucony - in the global conference held in May and November.

“This is well done,” said Ciorba, managing director for MF Company, while visiting the CAT Footwear store.

This is the first year Wolverine has opted for a collective event instead of separate conferences for each brand.

Ciorba appreciates the company’s efforts to consolidate the sales meeting so he’ll spend a few days at the conference instead of up to 2 weeks.

While logistically, it’s much easier to have all the meetings downtown near his hotel, Ciorba says he misses visiting the Rockford headquarters and seeing the brand’s team in their work settings.

“We don’t want to lose the feeling of the brand,” said Ciorba, adding that he would like to visit the headquarters sometime in the future so he can "feel the pulsing heart" of Wolverine.

Creating shops around each of the brands is a way to showcase each brand’s unique identity.

Ken Taylor, marketing manager for Cushe, made his brand's storefront is marked by a recycled shipping container and salvaged metal and barn wood.

"You want people to get immersed in your brand," said Taylor. "Obviously, this was made for very mall feel with a real looking Merrell and CAT stores. You turn the corner and you get the essence of what our store is which is a warming, inviting outdoor feel."

That relaxed surfer feel is different than the gritty look of the CAT Footwear store where the storefront window has scratches and products hang on chains.

Debb Foreman, visual marketing manager for CAT Footwear, says she has been planning her brand’s 50-foot by 30-foot space for months. She also created the scene at the UICA earlier this week for a fashion party to unveil CAT Footwear's 2014 collection.

Behind the retail space that gives the band experience are two rooms with walls of shoes for the product meetings. That's where orders are taken and where distributors and marketers selected which designs they’ll take back for their markets.

The six-day conference which began Tuesday, May 14, wraps up on Sunday, May 19.